{"id":280728,"date":"2021-06-22T14:57:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T11:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/joni-mitchells-ex-talks-heartache-as-blue-turns-50\/"},"modified":"2021-06-22T14:57:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T11:57:09","slug":"joni-mitchells-ex-talks-heartache-as-blue-turns-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/joni-mitchells-ex-talks-heartache-as-blue-turns-50\/","title":{"rendered":"#Joni Mitchell’s ex talks heartache as ‘Blue’ turns 50"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Joni Mitchell’s ex talks heartache as ‘Blue’ turns 50<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

With the confessional honesty that Joni Mitchell displayed on her classic \u201cBlue\u201d album<\/a> \u2014 which was released 50 years ago on June 22, 1971 \u2014 perhaps a more apt title would have been \u201cTrue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people think she bares her soul, but I think she scrapes her soul,\u201d said Lori Majewski, co-host of \u201cFeedback\u201d on SiriusXM\u2019s Volume channel. \u201cThe confessional nature of \u2018Blue\u2019 is such that I think Joni Mitchell herself actually likened it to Dylan plugging in, to Dylan going electric. It was such a groundbreaking thing to be this confessional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Mitchell\u2019s fourth studio LP \u2014 which Rolling Stone ranked at No. 3 on last year\u2019s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/a> \u2014 upped the gut-spilling ante for both female and male singer-songwriters. \u201cIt made a lot of singer-songwriters \u2014 especially male singer-songwriters \u2014 very nervous that they were going to have to lay it all out on the table the way Joni had,\u201d said Majewski. \u201cI think that the men, they were singing about the times, they were singing about the moment, but they were looking outward. When you go inward, there\u2019s a bravery \u2014 and Joni did that with a magnifying glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joni
Joni Mitchell at her home in Laurel Canyon, Calif., in 1970, a year prior to the release of her seminal album \u201cBlue,\u201d which came out 50 years ago on June 22.<\/figcaption>
Joel Bernstein<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And that \u201cBlue\u201d bravery has inspired everyone from Prince \u2014 who, after once writing Mitchell a fan letter before he became \u201cPurple Rain\u201d royalty, would go on to cover \u201cA Case of You\u201d \u2014 to today\u2019s artists including Brandi Carlile, Lana Del Rey and, of course, Taylor Swift. In fact, on \u201cBlue,\u201d Mitchell was getting intimate about her relationships with the likes of Graham Nash and James Taylor long before Swift was dishing about John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal.<\/p>\n

\"Drummer
Drummer Russ Kunkel (here in 1979) recalls \u201clistening to greatness\u201d when Mitchell was recording \u201cBlue.\u201d<\/figcaption>
Ebet Roberts\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was such a hugely influential record and remains a real touchstone for everybody,\u201d said Patrick Mulligan, producer of the Joni Mitchell \u201cArchives\u201d series<\/a>, whose upcoming second volume\u00a0(due in October) will include material from her \u201cBlue\u201d period. The collection is previewed by an EP, \u201cBlue 50 (Demos & Outtakes),\u201d which was released on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think because it is so honest, it\u2019s so timeless,\u201d said Mulligan. \u201cPeople keep going back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Nash, hearing \u201cBlue\u201d for the first time made him feel just that. \u201cWhen I first heard the album, I realized that our love affair had come to an end, and that\u2019s a very sad feeling for anyone who\u2019s in love with anybody, but particularly \u2019cause it\u2019s Joni and me,\u201d Nash told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople said that we literally lit up the room when we both were in it. Our love was very warm, very tender and very deep, and it\u2019s one of the reasons why listening to \u2018Blue\u2019 still tugs at my heartstrings.\u201d (Mitchell, who rarely does interviews, declined a request.)<\/p>\n

While Nash and Mitchell were living together in Los Angeles, he saw her genius at work writing some of the songs, including \u201cA Case of You.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI distinctly picture in my head her writing at her piano in our house in Laurel Canyon that we shared for a couple of years there,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Graham
Graham Nash (with Joni Mitchell at the Big Sur Folk Festival in Sept. 1969) inspired the songs \u201cMy Old Man\u201d and \u201cRiver\u201d on \u201cBlue.\u201d<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cBlue\u201d tracks that are specifically about Nash \u2014 \u201cMy Old Man\u201d and \u201cRiver\u201d \u2014 cover their relationship from opposite ends of the spectrum: On the former, Mitchell sings about a domestic bliss that doesn\u2019t \u201cneed no piece of paper,\u201d while the latter is a breakup lament about losing \u201cthe best baby\u00a0that\u00a0I ever had\u201d.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nash insists that he never felt as if she bared too much about him and their relationship. \u201cNo, I never did,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was only admiration for her ability to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, he added, it was \u201ctremendously courageous\u201d for her to reveal so much of herself \u2014 and yes, her love life \u2014 at the time. \u201cShe was not feeling particularly strong,\u201d he said. \u201cShe had a lot of questions about her life and how it should have gone maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Nash still has mixed feelings when listening to \u201cBlue.\u201d \u201cI still feel a couple of emotions that shouldn\u2019t go together: One of them is sadness, and the other one is incredulity of how brilliant she is.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Our love was very warm, very tender and very deep, and it\u2019s one of the reasons why listening to \u2018Blue\u2019 still tugs at my heartstrings.<\/p>\n

Graham Nash<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Nash remains flattered that Mitchell once wrote about him making her \u201cweak in the knees\u201d on \u201cRiver.\u201d And the two remain close: \u201cI\u2019ve sent flowers for her birthday every year for the last 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a way, their love affair continues today, with \u201cBlue\u201d having immortalized it. \u201cAll these years later there\u2019s a part of my heart that still loves Joni Mitchell,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce you\u2019re in love with Joni Mitchell . . . you\u2019re in love with her forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drummer Russ Kunkel \u2014 who played on \u201cCarey,\u201d \u201cCalifornia\u201d and \u201cA Case of You\u201d \u2014 connected with Mitchell through the vibrant Laurel Canyon music scene. \u201cI had moved to Los Angeles with a band that I was in called Things To Come . . . and I became friends with David Crosby, I became friends with Graham Nash, and so I was around the scene,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife at that time was Cass Elliot\u2019s sister [Leah], and we were living in kind of a studio suite above her garage in Laurel Canyon. Cass\u2019 house was kind of a melting pot of everybody that came through Los Angeles, so on any given day in Cass\u2019 backyard would be Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, John Sebastian, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Kunkel had heard some of the \u201cBlue\u201d songs at Mama Cass\u2019 house before he ended up playing on the record. And he\u2019ll never forget hearing a certain \u201cA Case of You\u201d line for the very first time: \u201cAs soon as I heard that lyric, \u2018I could drink a case of you\u2026And I would still be on my feet,\u2019 it was one of those moments where in your brain you go, \u2018The person that wrote this is, like, of the highest degree.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joni
Joni Mitchell\u2019s then-boyfriend James Taylor (here together recording vocals for Carole King\u2019s album \u201cTapestry\u201d in 1971) contributed to \u201cBlue.\u201d<\/figcaption>
Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But he didn\u2019t initially dig deep into the lyrics of \u201cCarey\u201d or \u201cCalifornia,\u201d both of which were inspired when Mitchell took a break from performing and went on an extended vacation to Europe in 1970. \u201cWhat I did know for sure is what I was going to be playing was going to be very simple, just supporting what she was doing,\u201d said Kunkel of the recording sessions in Studio C at A&M Studios in Hollywood. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He joined a list of supporting players that included Mitchell\u2019s then-boyfriend Taylor on guitar, and Stills on guitar and bass. \u201cMost of her parts were already laid down when we played those things,\u201d said Kunkel, who had previously played drums on Taylor\u2019s 1970 album, \u201cSweet Baby James.\u201d \u201cBut she was always there . . . Joan produced that record.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for Kunkel, it was all about not messing with the magic that was happ<\/a>ening: \u201cMy focus when I was in the studio was just concentrating on first doing no harm, playing the appropriate part for the song, because I was listening to greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n

For photographer Tim Considine, shooting the iconic <\/strong>blue-hued album cover of Mitchell\u2019s masterpiece all began because of another female singer-songwriter. \u201cThe whole thing was started . . . at a Judy Collins concert,\u201d he said. \u201cShe sang \u2018Both Sides Now,\u2019 and I was really impressed. Then she said, \u2018If you like that song, wait till you hear the young Canadian who wrote it: Joni Mitchell.\u2019 I thought, \u2018I\u2019ve got to look for this artist.\u2019 \u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, armed with film typically used for dental purposes to better shoot in the dark, Considine went to photograph Mitchell during a 1968 concert at the famed Troubadour in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Blue<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI went home, and I developed the pictures, and . . . I loved the images,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I went back the next night and went up the stairs [to Mitchell\u2019s dressing room], knocked on the door and introduced myself. I\u2019d made 11-by-14 prints, and she seemed to like them. And I felt 9 feet tall that this brilliant singer-songwriter, poet and painter liked my images. And then David Crosby came in, and she handed them to him. And he took one look at them and said, \u2018Needs more contrast.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Considine then \u201cimmedia<\/a>tely refined\u201d the image that would become the \u201cBlue\u201d album cover. He was thrilled when later, in 1971, he was asked by art director Gary Burden if they could use the shot. \u201cShe had never had an album cover that was a photograph \u2014 she had painted all her album covers,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I said, \u2018Absolutely.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

But Considine wasn\u2019t a fan of the blue-tinted treatment of his photograph, which was originally a black-and-white shot. \u201cI hated it when I saw it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes her look hard. It took all of the softness out of the image. It was awful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Considine said, \u201cI was honored \u2014 and still am \u2014 to be the first to photograph an album cover for this genius.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Joni Mitchell’s ex talks heartache as ‘Blue’ turns 50” With the confessional honesty that Joni Mitchell displayed on her classic \u201cBlue\u201d album \u2014 which was released 50 years ago on June 22, 1971 \u2014 perhaps a more apt title would have been \u201cTrue.\u201d \u201cA lot of people think she bares her soul, but I think…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":280729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/joni-mitchell-.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[110030,72626,110048,86724,77799,74479],"class_list":["post-280728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-22-21","tag-albums","tag-folk-rock","tag-james-taylor","tag-joni-mitchell","tag-rock-and-roll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}